Mayor: Productive downtown crucial to Byesville's future

BYESVILLE — The village administration, with the dawn of the new year, will persist in the effort to rejuvenate Byesville, the mayor and administrator said last week.

As reported Sunday, the advent of the Guernsey Power Station will boost the village and the surrounding community in both tangible and intangible ways.

But many challenges remain, particularly in the economic sphere of the village — a sphere that underpins the health of any community.

Since the departure of Plastech Engineered Products from the village a decade ago, the village has struggled with a straitened budget — at least, in the general fund that receives the tax revenues. (The enterprise fund operates from money generated by water and wastewater user rates.)

Mayor Jay Jackson was serving on council in 2008 and vividly remembers the loss of Plastech.

"That just kind of took the wind out of the sails when that happened," he said. "Economically, it was a big blow to the [village] coffers. There were 400 and some jobs gone just like that."

But unlike many small villages that die when they lose a major employer, Byesville soldiers on, Administrator Brennan Dudley suggested.

"Yes, we have lost a lot," Dudley said. "But the fact is a lot has been maintained here compared to a lot of small towns across America. Would we like for things to be better? Absolutely, and we work every day to try to make them better."

For its size, the village has a lot of industry in and around the village, he said.

"Island Aseptics is a huge employer. Velocity Group on Leyshon Drive is not in the village but it brings people into the village every day."

Among the other companies he cited were AFC Cable and Monogram Metals.

The former Plastech building no longer is available for a factory because it is being used as a warehouse. Several other factory buildings, such as the former Ames building, also are being used as warehouses.

So, while there are still some factories in the community, the prospect of bringing new industries within the village limits would be extremely difficult because, if for no other reason, there are no structures available in town for housing them, Dudley said.

Therefore, the administration has shifted its attention more to the commercial possibilities.

"The downtown is a huge focus for the mayor and myself right now," Dudley said. "What we have to do, like with Project Phoenix, is to create a culture or infrastructure that is attractive to businesses."

He said that buildings downtown may have been maintained, but still may not be up to code standards.

"We want to try to bring in money via grants or private money so that we can make those buildings attractive for an entrepreneur to come in and say, ‘Hey, I want to put a business in Byesville.’

"Byesville is a great place to put a business. There is a huge amount of traffic. If you go down to Second Street, there are 7,500 cars a day. That’s a lot of traffic for a small community."

Mayor Jackson said getting more people to believe in the community’s potential is a starting point.

"We have got to start somewhere to create that spark," he said. "A lot of what we’re trying to do is just to come outside of the box with some creative ways of getting people excited and even expanding our territory in some ways."

Dudley expressed appreciation for the mayor’s vision for the community.

"One of the things I applaud this guy for is he deals with the tough issues," Dudley said. "The downtown is a huge issue, but nothing moves very fast. That’s the problem."

"That’s the frustrating part," Jackson agreed.

The village could apply for downtown revitalization grants but coming up with the required matching funds, for the most part, has stymied the administration.

"If you have to come up with $50,000 so you can get $150,000, that’s a no-brainer," Dudley said. "You should do that. But where do you come up with the $50,000?

"That means you have got to take money from somewhere else, whether it’s paving streets, whether it’s law enforcement, whether it’s salaries … Something has to decrease so we would have the money to do that.

"So far, [the village] hasn’t been willing to do that.

"The days of 100-percent grants are gone. They don’t exist. You have got to put something in the pot."

Jackson said some people have a misperception that building owners are under an obligation to improve their properties.

"But they don’t [have to make improvements]," he said. "They really don’t. Our approach is to find some ways to help that business owner to want to do something. Because the reality of it is they own the buildings. And they could just sit there and let them fall apart."

The mayor said that perhaps the biggest challenge is to get others to understand and "buy in" to the belief that it is crucial for the village to have a productive downtown.

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